National Quality Strategy Stakeholder Toolkit

This toolkit can be used by organizations to showcase their alignment and support of the National Quality Strategy.

Introduction

This Stakeholder Toolkit can be used by private and public organizations to advance the mission of the National Quality Strategy (NQS). This toolkit contains a variety of approved materials for organizations to use and tailor to their specific needs.

How Can You Use This Toolkit?

Print and distribute the content to your stakeholders.

Link to the content on your Web site.

Use the NQS logo on your Web site (with a link to the NQS Web site) to indicate your organization's alignment to the NQS.

Place one of the banner graphics on your Web site (with a link to the NQS Web site) to indicate your organization's alignment to the NQS.

Use one or more of the NQS priority or levers icons on your Web site or materials and briefly explain how your organization aligns to the NQS using one or more of the priorities/levers.

Insert specific slides from the briefing slides into internal and external presentations to show how your organization aligns to the NQS.

Tailor social media content (blogs, tweets) to describe your organization's alignment to the NQS and link to the NQS Web site.

The toolkit contents will be updated on a periodic basis and posted to the Working for Quality site.

National Quality Strategy Fact Sheet

The National Quality Strategy (NQS) fact sheet (PDF, 432 KB) lists the three aims, six priorities, and ongoing implementation activities of the Strategy. This PDF can be posted to Web sites or printed and distributed at in-person events.

National Quality Strategy Levers Fact Sheet

This National Quality Strategy Levers fact sheet (PDF, 304 KN) outlines nine National Quality Strategy levers that represent core business functions, resources, and/or actions that stakeholders can use to align to the Strategy. This PDF can be posted to Web sites or printed and distributed at in-person events.

Annual Report to Congress

The National Quality Strategy Annual Progress Report to Congress provides details on implementation activities by the private and public sectors, efforts to align quality measures, and successes in the six priority areas,

National Quality Strategy Progress Backed by Data: The 2015 Annual Progress Report demonstrates progress across select health care process, outcome, and access measures that track improvements aligned with the six National Quality Strategy priorities. Measures highlighted in the Annual Progress Report are drawn from the 2014 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report (QDR), an AHRQ publication. The QDR reports on findings in health care quality, access to care, and health care disparities according to each of the six NQS priorities.

Diverse Programs Across the Country Aligned to the National Quality Strategy: The list of organizations that have aligned to the National Quality Strategy continues to grow, including public- and private-sector organizations at the national, State, and local levels.

Delivery System Reform: Making quality care affordable for individuals, communities, and governments is a key component of the National Quality Strategy, and implementing payment models that incentivize providers to deliver high-quality patient-centered care is one of the nine National Quality Strategy levers.

Visit the Working for Quality Web site to learn more about the National Quality Strategy.

Tell us about how your organization aligns to the National Quality Strategy by emailing NQStrategy@ahrq.hhs.gov or downloading a National Quality Strategy stakeholder toolkit.

Priorities in Action

Link to the National Quality Strategy's Priorities in Action, which feature promising and transformative quality improvement programs, and describes their alignment to the NQS' six priorities. Updated monthly, these programs represent private sector, Federal, State, and local efforts.

Making care safer by reducing harm caused in the delivery of care.

Ensuring that each person and family are engaged as partners in their care.

Promoting effective communication and coordination of care

Promoting the most effective prevention and treatment practices for the leading causes of mortality, starting with cardiovascular disease.

Working with communities to promote wide use of best practices to enable healthy living.

Making quality care more affordable for individuals, families, employers, and governments by developing and spreading new health care delivery models.

You can find the Priorities in Action on the Working for Quality site by visiting the National Quality Strategy's Priorities in Action site.

National Quality Strategy Logo, Priority and Lever Icons

Instructions for Use

Pair the National Quality Strategy logo and related artwork, including the six priority icons, with a link to the Working for Quality site on your site or other marketing materials. Let us know when and how your organization uses NQS graphics by dropping us a note atNQStrategy@ahrq.hhs.gov.

Logo

Callout Box Example

Our organization aligns to the National Quality Strategy by using health IT to improve health care quality.

Priority Icons

Patient Safety

Person- and
Family-Centered
Care

Effective
Communication
and Care
Coordination

Prevention and
Treatment
of Leading
Causes of Mortality

Health and
Well-Being

Affordable
Care

National Quality Strategy Levers

Measurement and Feedback
Provide performance feedback to plans and providers to improve care.

Innovation and Diffusion
Foster innovation in health care quality improvement, and facilitate rapid adoption within and across organizations and communities.

Workforce Development
Investing in people to prepare the next generation of health care professionals and support lifelong learning for providers.

Additional Graphics for Use on Your Web Site/In Materials

The How It Works Graphic

Suggested Language

Improving health and health care quality can occur only if all sectors, individuals, family members, payers, providers, employers, and communities, make it their mission. Members of the health care community can align to the National Quality Strategy by doing the following:

Use one or more of the nine leversto identify core business functions, resources, and/or actions that may serve as means for achieving improved health and health care quality.

Focus on the six prioritiesto guide efforts to improve health and health care quality.

Adopt the three aimsto provide better, more affordable care for the individual and the community.

Newsletter/Web Content Template

Instructions for Use

Does your organization publish a newsletter or feature content on your site? Use these story ideas to design a newsletter story for internal or external use or Web site content highlighting what your organization is doing to align to the NQS.

Describe how your organization aligns to one or more of the six NQS priorities. List specific examples of which priorities you use and any associated results. Use the NQS Priorities in Action as a guide if you need help getting started.

Explain how your organization is using one or more of the nine NQS levers to align to the Strategy. (The XXX lever helped our organization achieve XXX result.)

Blog Entries

Instructions for Use

Does your organization's Web site have a column for publications and news? Post this content to your site, tag it with the designated keywords, and promote the content through social media channels, if available. Use keywords on social media and other Internet platforms to engage your stakeholders and share what your organization is doing to align with the NQS.

Blog Entry #1

The National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Health Care Provides a Fresh Take on Health Care Triple Aims

The National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Health Care, commonly referred to as the National Quality Strategy or NQS, is the first-ever national effort to improve health and health care quality. The fundamental objective of the NQS, which was initially published in March 2011 and is updated annually, is to promote quality health care and improved health for patients, families, and communities.

The National Quality Strategy is to concurrently pursue three broad aims. These aims can be used to guide:

Better Care: Improve the overall quality of care by making health care more patient-centered, reliable, accessible, and safe.

Healthy People/Healthy Communities: Improve the health of the U.S. population by supporting proven interventions to address behavioral, social, and environmental determinants of health in addition to delivering higher quality care.

To advance the aims, the NQS focuses on six priorities that have great potential for rapidly improving health outcomes and increasing the effectiveness of care for all populations. These priorities encompass the range of quality concerns that affect most Americans. The six priorities are:

Making care safer by reducing harm caused in the delivery of care.

Ensuring that each person and family is engaged as a partner in their care.

Promoting effective communication and coordination of care.

Promoting the most effective prevention and treatment practices for the leading causes of mortality, starting with cardiovascular disease.

Working with communities to promote wide use of best practices to enable healthy living.

Making quality care more affordable for individuals, families, employers, and governments by developing and spreading new health care delivery models.

More information on the National Quality Strategy is available at the Working for Quality site.

Blog Entry #2

Five Facts about the National Quality Strategy and What It Is Doing to Help Provide High-Quality Care for All Americans

The National Quality Strategy (NQS) is the first national effort to align public and private interests to achieve better health and health care for all Americans. The NQS, led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in coordination with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, was first published in 2011.

Specifically, the National Quality Strategy:

Provides a framework to guide local, State, and national efforts to measure and improve health and health care quality.

Promotes quality health care that is focused on the needs of patients, families, and communities.

Moves the health care system to work better for doctors and other health care providers by reducing their administrative burdens and helping them collaborate to improve care.

Offers results of the latest evidence-based implementation efforts drawn from Federal and State agencies, local communities, providers, patients, businesses, employers, and payers.

Serves as an evolving guide for health care quality improvement, which is critical given the changing face of the health care landscape.

More information on the National Quality Strategy, including the 2014 Annual Progress Report, is available at the Working for Quality site.

Tags: quality, quality improvement, national quality strategy, HHS

Blog Entry #3

Using Levers to Align to the National Quality Strategy

Stakeholders can align to the National Quality Strategy by adopting one or more of the three aims and/or six priorities. Stakeholders can now align to the Strategy in a new way, using one or more of the nine "levers" described below. Each lever represents a core business function, resource, and/or action that stakeholders can use to align to the Strategy. Each lever includes one example for adoption, but every lever can be applied to a variety of organizations in a number of settings. Tailor the levers to meet your organization's messaging and goals for NQS alignment and health care quality improvement.

Measurement and Feedback —Provide performance feedback to plans and providers to improve care.

Social Media Announcements for Use by Stakeholders

Does your organization use Facebook or Twitter to connect with stakeholders? The following messages with shortened URLs that link to National Quality Strategy content serve as easy-to-use content on your social media channels.

Facebook

Post a picture of a NQS priority or lever icon that your organization uses:
Include a caption to explain how your organization uses priorities and/or levers to improve health care quality. Share the story of how priorities and/or levers guided your organization on the path to NQS alignment.